Poll: Enthusiasm up for Romney, down for Obama

7/18/12 8:56 AM EDT

[T]hree and a half months before election day, Republican enthusiasm about voting this year has shot up since Mitt Romney clinched the nomination in April, from 36 percent of Republicans saying they were more enthusiastic in March to 49 percent now.

President Obama was helped to election in 2008 by a wave of voter enthusiasm among Democrats, however this year, Democratic enthusiasm is down a bit since March. Twenty-seven percent of Democrats said they were more enthusiastic about voting this year than they were in past elections, compared to 30 percent four months ago...

Independent voters' enthusiasm is also up with 29 percent saying they're more enthusiastic now from 22 percent four months ago.

...As for the direction of the country, voters are growing increasingly more pessimistic...Sixty-four percent of those polled think the country is on the wrong track, up from 62 percent in May.

Obama campaign officials have repeatedly said they expected the race to tighten as Romney got a bump from securing the GOP nomination, but they also pointed to the until-now mostly sunny reports on enthusiasm for Obama as proof they can pull it out, particularly with their planned ground game. These findings could force some recalibrating in Chicago.